Red and Black
by QueenMaple
Summary: Christina's new assistant is something else, bringing with her an unorthodox style that helps Betty and Daniel with their latest shoot. AU
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Edited, slightly.

* * *

"And who, exactly, are you?" Christina asked, walking into the main room of the closet and finding a completely unfamiliar, but young, woman standing there, fidgeting with the edge of her jacket. 

The young woman jumped a little. "Oh, hi! Um, is this the Closet?" she asked with an obvious Californian accent.

"Indeed it is," Christina answered, setting the dress she was carrying on a hook. "I'm Christina, I head the Closet. How might I help you, love?"

"Yay! I knew you were you!" the young woman exclaimed, throwing her arms around Christina.

The Scottish woman was very much taken aback by this sudden action and wore a bewildered look on her face. She gave the other woman an awkward pat on the back. "I'm sorry, dear, but do I know you?" Christina asked.

"Not yet, you don't! I'm Katalina Watkins, your new assistant."

Realization dawned on Christina as she shook hands with her new underling. "Right, right, right. I completely forgot you were starting today. I'm sorry, Katalina. Come, let me show you your new home."

Katalina followed Christina in awed silence. This place was amazing. She listened intently as her new boss explained about everything. Even if she wasn't going to be making any of these clothes, she had a feeling that this was going to be just as exciting. She could just imagine all the fun she was going to have.

"And upstairs-"

"Wait, there's another floor?" Katalina couldn't believe her ears. "I am so in heaven," she murmured, leaning against the banister.

Christina smiled. "Yes, there is indeed another floor. Now come on. Or do you not want to see it?"

Katalina tripped her way up the stairs behind a chuckling Christina. "This is really incredible, you know. I don't think I've seen so much designer stuff in one place. And I figured I'd be the last person to be in a place like this, even though I've always wanted to be a fashion designer since fourth grade," she babbled. She spotted a simple black dress and ran over to it. "Ohmygosh, this is so cute! Now if only I had a sparkly silver something, like a sash. It would look totally gorgeous with light blue ruffles, don't you think?"

An amused smile formed on Christina's face as she watched her assistant fussing with the dress. Things were going to get very interesting around here. This girl was young, fresh, and full of energy and life and vision. Those were just the kinds of things that would keep Christina from going absolutely mad in this place. She had to introduce her to Betty.

"Betty!"

The braces-clad assistant spat her food into a napkin before looking up. "Hi Christina! Who's this?" she asked, looking past the seamstress to the new girl behind her.

"This is my new assistant, Katalina," Christina said, pushing her towards Betty.

"You're not a model?" a puzzled Betty asked the petite woman as they shook hands. She looked completely qualified to be a model; she was a bit under medium height and was thin, but not anorexic looking.

Katalina laughed. "Stars above, no! I'm the least photogenic person in the world!"

Now it was Betty's turn to laugh. "If you say so," she said, sitting back down.

The new girl remained standing as her boss and friend sat. She shook her head and put a hand on her hip. "I get good vibes from you, Betty. Don't belittle yourself. It's not nice to yourself or the ones that care about you. A bad mood is just as infectious as a happy mood. And you'd be surprised how much your mood can change that of another person's." She paused for breath. "Now, where's the microwave in this joint?" she asked, looking around the lunchroom. Betty stared after Katalina as she bounced off in search of the appliance.

"She's a handful," Christina stated, "isn't she?"

"Is she sure she's come to work at the right place? Because I swear I could see her as a psychologist or something," Betty said.

"From her babblings over the past few hours, I've gathered that she started at UCLA, and then transferred to NYU, then to FIDM in San Francisco, then back here in New York to Parsons, where she graduated. _And_ she's just barely turned 24," Christina elaborated.

Betty furrowed her brows as she thought. "So obviously she planned on something different, right?"

Christina shrugged. "She mentioned that she's wanted to be a fashion designer since fourth grade."

The two were stopped from discussing anything further as Katalina returned, with a little black storm cloud hovering over her head. "Can you believe the nerve of some people? Just because you've come to work at a fashion mag and you aren't wearing a designer label they think you're clueless. Mark my words, one of these days you're going to see _my_ stuff in this mag and it'll blow them all away," she remarked huffily as she sat down. Her new friends gave her a sympathetic look.

"Trust me, I've been in your shoes, Katalina," Betty reassured her, laying a hand on the other woman's arm. "Don't let them belittle you. A bad mood is just as infectious as a happy mood." She grinned.


	2. Chapter 2

"I feel pretty, oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay! And I pity any girl that isn't me tonight," Katalina sang, skipping out of the accessory closet. Her waist was adorned by several different belts and bangles covered her arms up to her elbows. She waved around the scarves she was bringing Christina as she continued. "I feel charming, oh so charming. It's alarming how charming I fe—"

"Enough!" Christina cried, plucking a rust colored scarf from Katalina's hand. She tucked it through the belt loops of a beige skirt on one of the dummies. "Stay still for a moment and tell me what you think of this one," she implored. She watched Katalina do as she was told, tilting her head from side to side. "Well?"

Katalina pulled off some of the bracelets she wore and held them against the outfit. "There are virtually no sleeves on this shirt thing, so you've got plenty of room to stack up some of these babies."

Christina looked it over and nodded. "Why didn't I think of that?" Then she thought about what she had just said. "Wait, don't say anything." Over the past few days, Christina had come to learn many things about her new assistant. Katalina was always ready with a song, a smile, a word of advice, and a witty remark.

_Brrrriiiiinnnng._

And she was always ready to answer the phone.

"Phone's ringing!" Katalina yelled, making a mad dash through racks of clothing and around the few people milling about the Closet. "Christina, it's Betty," she said, bringing back the phone. She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet as she waited for her boss to be done.

Christina set the phone down and took the bracelets for the outfit from Katalina. "I need you to go get the measurements for the models for the Victoria Sanchez line from Betty. If you don't remember where her desk is, just ask Amanda. And be nice!" she advised. Every time those two spoke, nasty words were exchanged.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we were older, then we wouldn't have to wait so long," Katalina began, waving good-bye to Christina, who shook her head with a smile. She continued singing on her way to Betty's desk, pausing only to stick her tongue out at Amanda as she passed the circular receptionist desk. There, she had been nice enough. She hadn't said anything nasty or offending to the snooty blond.

Amanda's flawless face contorted in fury at the new girl's pertness. Betty had let Amanda walk all over her, but this girl put up resistance. And she wasn't even from Queens. Come to think of it, Amanda didn't have any idea where she was from. All that mattered was that she was a new enemy. Katalina had a pretty enough face to attract unwanted attention from a certain someone, and that was the last thing Amanda wanted.

"Oh, cute bracelets," a man with curly brown hair commented as he walked by Katalina.

"Thanks!" she replied, skipping backwards for a moment.

"Ugh," Amanda snarled. "Please tell me you're just being mean to her like we are with Betty."

A surprised expression appeared on Marc's face as he realized that he hadn't meant it in a mean way. "Actually, I think she _can_ pull off the layered look. Others, I'm afraid, cannot," he said, motioning to the multiple bracelets on Amanda's wrists. He backed away from her desk as she snarled again. "Sorry, the truth hurts like wearing out-of-season heels." This time he was looking at one of the Mode girls walking by, who gave him an offended look.

"Marc!" a woman's voice snapped.

He jumped a little, and then slammed the papers he had brought over for Amanda on her desk. "Gotta go," he said as she snatched the papers away from him.

Katalina approached Betty's desk noiselessly, sneaking up behind her, and peered over her shoulder. "Whatcha doin'?" she asked. Betty didn't reply, but merely handed her the measurements. "Someone's a bit preoccupied," she observed.

Betty sighed and turned her swivel chair to face Katalina. "Have you ever been in love?" She didn't really expect an answer to such a personal question from someone she barely knew, but she got one.

"Yup. You take one look at that person, and all of a sudden time stands still. Your heart beats faster, your breath catches in your throat, your palms start to sweat, and all your mind can process is how much you just want to be with him. Or her, if you're a guy. But you're not, and I'm pretty sure you're into guys, so..."

Betty laughed. "Yes, I am very much into guys," she said. Her cheery mood passed over quickly and she returned to having a confused, wistful look on her face. Was Walter the one? Should she try for Henry? Should she just let things go and see what happened? She turned back to her computer and rested her forehead on her desk.

"Hear me when I say, when I say I believe. Nothing's gonna change, nothing's gonna change destiny. Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Do you have a song for everything?" Betty asked in amazement. Every time she was around this girl, she was singing. Betty knew it nearly drove Christina crazy, but the seamstress somehow managed to put up with it.

Katalina's shoulders rose up, and then settled back down. "Yeah, I guess. That's just the way my mind works. Just wait till I start quoting things. I sure hope Christina has lousy aim, 'cause she's sure to throw things at me."

Betty laughed again. "I'm sure she won't," she reassured her, smiling. As Katalina turned to leave, she stopped her. "Um, thanks. I know that was a really personal question, and I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable."

"We're friends, Betty. That's what friends are for. But seriously, don't stress too much. It's not healthy," Katalina informed her.

As Katalina passed the circular desk on her way to the elevator, Amanda wanted very badly to say something spiteful, but simply resorted to childishly sticking her tongue out at Katalina's back.


	3. Chapter 3

Daniel wore a blank expression as he listened to Wilhelmina give her idea for an upcoming photo shoot. It was the same old thing, the type of thing that would give the woman the attention she so craved. He was certain that Betty could come up with a better proposal. She always did. But he was the editor-in-chief, not her, and he needed to step up his game to prove that he _was_ of some worth.

"What do you think, Daniel?" asked Wilhelmina. Everybody turned and faced him, inquiring looks on all of their faces.

"Oh, well, I thought it was great, but..." he trailed off as he shuffled through his papers in order to buy some time.

"But what?"

"Isn't there something more we could do with it? I mean, to me, it just seems like we always have the same kind of spreads for new lines."

"What are you suggesting?"

Daniel looked to Betty, who nodded and chimed in," Well, if you look at her designs, all the dresses are either black or red. We're suggesting that we incorporate that into some kind of theme to make the spread more than just pictures of dresses."

"Right, we could make it almost like a story," Daniel finished. He shot Betty a 'thanks-I-owe-you-one' look. "Just to give it more depth."

Wilhelmina raised an eyebrow, considering the proposal. "I suppose that could work. We can do the mock-up, and then present the idea to Miss Ellis when she arrives."

Everyone picked up their things and began exiting the conference room. Wilhelmina strode out, Marc following close behind. Amanda walked out, hips swinging from side to side like a courtesan. Daniel turned to confer with Betty as they headed over to his office. Both stopped when they saw that it was occupied by Christina's assistant, Katalina, and a fabulously dressed woman that neither of them knew.

"Um..." Betty flipped through her schedule, then checked to see if there were any messages on her phone. In theory there shouldn't have been any because Betty had gotten Katalina to cover her phone. She made a mental note not to make that request a second time.

Meanwhile, Daniel entered his office and cleared his throat, making his presence known. "Hi, um, you're Christina's new assistant, right?" he asked Katalina.

"Yup, that's me." She nodded. "Katalina," she added since Daniel couldn't seem to remember.

"Oh, right. Sorry. And you are?" he asked the other woman.

She stood and offered her hand. "Jean Ellis. You're featuring my new line in your next issue."

"Oh, Miss Ellis! We weren't expecting you for another few days. Here, take a seat," Daniel said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. He looked at Katalina, and then at the door, signaling her to leave.

"Oh, right. Sorry," Katalina mimicked. "See you later!" She waved enthusiastically as she left.

"So who was that?" Betty asked as Katalina passed by. She moved some papers over so that the other woman could sit on her desk.

"_The_ Jean Ellis. Seriously," she said when Betty gave her a look of disbelief. "Coolest thing ever that of all the people, I got to talk to her. She's really nice. Oh, and you know, if you need to know what her favorite foods or anything are if Daniel has to have a business dinner with her, just ask me. Then you won't have to go through the hassle of calling her 'people.'"

Betty laughed as she made air quotes over the last word. "Well, I will definitely keep that in mind, thank you. I think Christina is probably missing your singing by now," she said, hinting that she ought to get back to the Closet.

"Yes, of course. So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu," she sang on her way to the elevators, much to Amanda's displeasure.

Betty shook her head and smiled. She couldn't imagine Mode without Katalina. She looked over to Daniel and Jean, noting that they seemed almost finished with their meeting. Both stood, shook hands, and then Daniel was escorting her out of his door. She waved a friendly good-bye to Betty as she passed her desk.

"How did it go?" Betty asked Daniel. "Did she like our idea?"

"_Your_ idea, you mean. Yes, she liked it. In fact, she liked it so much that she said that we could go ahead and start the shoot as soon as everything was set. She only had one request: that the pictures be in grey and white to make the reds and blacks stand out more," he replied, looking rather pleased.

"Alright, I'll go down to the Closet and let Christina know, then I'll get in touch with Wilhelmina and the props warehouse, and then we should be ready," Betty said, making a list for herself.


	4. Chapter 4

A few days later, Betty headed down to the Closet to see how the primary fitting for the model was going. She also needed help developing a storyline for the shoot. It was proving to be a bit of a more difficult task than she had imagined when she suggested it. Much to her confusion when she arrived, the model was no where to be seen. "Um, Christina, where is she?" Betty asked.

"She? She who?" Christina asked back, carrying one of the red gowns in her arms. She moved into another part of the Closet where Katalina stood on a stool, wearing one of the black dresses.

"She, the model she," Betty answered, following her friend. "Why is Katalina wearing that? You're supposed to be fitting the model!"

Christina hung the dress up on a rack, then turned around. "Oh, you're going to love this Betty. We're actually saving some time by doing this. You see, the model's measurements are nearly exactly the same as Katalina's. She's just a bit on the short side, which is why she's on the stool. So I called up the model and told her not to come, and that everything would fit perfectly when she arrives," the seamstress replied, grinning.

"Isn't it brilliant?" Katalina chimed in as Christina took some material in on the side. "Ow!" she exclaimed when the pin made contact with her skin.

"Oh, sorry about that," Christina apologized.

Betty sat down and watched the two work. "Ok, well, that's great, I guess," she said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Aw, should we have made the anorexic little- ow, come up here anyway?" Katalina asked, disappointed that their plan wasn't to Betty's liking.

"What, oh no!" Betty replied, throwing her hands up in the air. "No, it really is great," she assured the other girl.

"But something _is_ wrong," Christina pressed, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Betty. "Well, out with it," she ordered. Katalina hopped off her stool and dragged it over, joining them.

Betty hesitated for a moment, not wanting to burden them with what was clearly her responsibility. But maybe hearing someone else's opinion would help her out. "Ok," she said, giving in. "Daniel is counting on me to come up with a really good story for this photo shoot, since this whole different approach is to...whatever Wilhelmina and it would be embarassing if it didn't go over well, and he needs it now so we can figure out props and location, but I've got nothing," she explained in exasperation. Her shoulders sagged as she sighed.

Christina looked to Katalina. "What?" the assistant asked, blinking.

"You're the one with the creative genius we're always lacking, so get creative," the older woman prompted.

"Ooooh. Ok," Katalina replied, smiling. She adopted her thinking pose, tapping her nose with her right forefinger. "Story, story, story." The heel of her palm collided with her forehead a couple of times as she waited for something to pop into her head. She stood up and began pacing, the train of the gown bunching behind her. Christina followed after her, picking it up so as not to ruin it. "Story...

"Every story, tale or memoir, every saga or romance. Whether true or fabricated, whether planned of happenstance. Whether sweeping through the ages, casting centuries aside. Or a hurried brief recital, just a thirty minute ride. Whether bright or melancholy, rough and ready, finely spun. Whether with a thousand players, or a lonely cast of one. Every story new or ancient, bagatelle or work of art. All are tales of human failing, all are tales of love at heart," she sang, searching for inspiration in the first song she could think of that contained the word story.

Betty jumped up out of her seat after the last line. "Katalina, that's it! You really are a genius!" she cried.

"I am, aren't I," the other girl agreed, giggling.

"Yes, don't you see?" Betty asked, grabbing her upper arms. "A love story! It's brilliant. But it will be more than a love story, since the dresses are red and black," she explained, the wheels in her brain meshing perfectly.

Christina caught on quickly. "Oh, oh, yes! It can have a dramatic title, like, like..."

"Red is the color of your love. Black is the color of your desire."

Christina and Betty stopped their babbling and turned to face Katalina. They grinned happily before babbling some more. Katalina grinned too, glad that she could help. She tilted her head to the side as she listened to them discussing backgrounds and the need for a male model and other things. A few minutes later they hurried over to Christina's desk so Betty could get a notepad to write down all of their ideas.

"Daniel is going to be so happy," she gushed. "Oh, thank you, Katalina," she said, giving the other girl a hug before scurrying off to the elevator.

"Er, you're welcome," Katalina called after her.

"You seem a bit out of it," Christina observed, helping her out of the black dress and into the red one. She was obviously referring to when her assistant hadn't jumped right in with some harebrained idea. "Are you getting enough sleep?" she asked, lacing the dress up.

Katalina nodded. "It might have been because of my dream last night," she said, standing up a little straighter. "I woke up this morning a little depressed."

"Depressed?" her boss echoed. "You?"

"Mhm. It's like...I felt like I lost something in my dream, and it made me really sad when I woke up," she explained.

Christina's brow furrowed. "Hm. Well I hope you find whatever you lost tonight," she said, standing with her hands on her hips.

Her assistant laughed. "If only it worked that way," she replied, flouncing off to go look at herself in the mirror.

"What a handful," Christina muttered for the umpteenth time, shaking her head.


	5. Chapter 5

_Brrriiing. Brrriiing._

"Hello, Daniel Meade's office. This is Betty Suarez speaking."

"Betty, ohmigosh, you absolutely have to, have to, have to come down here and take a look at this male model. He is so-o-o totally gorgeous!" Katalina squealed into the phone.

On the other end of the line, Betty laughed. "Maybe later. I'm a little busy trying to find a place with a grand spiral staircase and lavish rose gardens," she said. Pressing the phone between her ear and shoulder, she click-clacked away on the keyboard.

"Oooh. Daniel is meeting with the photographer right now, huh?" Katalina asked. She on the other hand was far from busy, leaning as far back in her chair as she possibly could to stare at the model through the doorway. Christina was fussing over what he would wear, and probably thoroughly pleased with her close proximity to him. Both sighed, mentally swooning.

"Yeah. You should see _him_, Kat, he's really into this new project," Betty replied, using her new nickname for her friend. She glanced over the top of her monitor into Daniel's office, where he stood making large arm gestures while talking with the photographer, who was listening intently. "I'm glad he's putting his energy into something a little more...constructive than usual."

Katalina dragged her chair, rather loudly, to a different spot in order to get a better view. "And what is it that he usually does that isn't so-o-o constructive?"

"Oh, you know..." Betty trailed off. Everybody knew that Daniel was, well, a bit of a man whore. It went without saying. Then again, Katalina was from California and hadn't been living in New York all that long. Still, with the amount of noise Daniel often made she ought to have heard _some_thing.

"Mmm...No, I don't know." How could she think properly at a time like this anyway? The model winked at her and she nearly melted in her chair.

"You're kidding, right?" Betty's disbelief came through loud and clear. Her fingers hovered over the keys as she simply sat there.

"I don't kid, Betty," Katalina replied rather matter-of-factly. "I may joke and make fun, but I do not kid. Anyway, what does Daniel do?" she asked again.

"Er..." Betty glanced around furtively. Conversations always turned awkward when this subject came up. Curses. "You know, he sleeps around with a lot of women," she explained, trying to keep her voice casual and failing miserably.

Laughter erupted from Closet end of the line. "That's it? You couldn't just say that he's promiscuous or something? I mean, it's not that big of a deal, right?" Katalina fidgeted in her chair when Betty remained silent. "Sorry...It's totally fine if you're uncomfortable with it."

Betty grinned. "Thanks, Kat, that –"

"Betty!" Daniel called, sticking his head out of his office door as the photographer left. He motioned for her to come over.

"Listen, Daniel needs me right now, so...I'll try to come down to the Closet later, k?"

Katalina giggled. "Mmm, but hurry! I don't know how much longer Christina can keep him here," she said.

Betty laughed to herself and rolled her eyes. "Ok."

"Fantástico! I can't wait to ogle with you."

"Or maybe I could have..." Katalina trailed off when Betty arrived in a right fit. "What happened?" she asked, setting down the flower she was about to pin to a blazer.

Betty flopped onto the couch. "Daniel forgot who Tuesday was and he thinks he might have left something there." She made a noise of disapproval. "How can he forget who he goes to bed with?" she asked indignantly, sitting up.

Katalina shrugged. "Well it is Daniel you're talking about. And if he sees as many different women as I think he does, then one is one in about a million. Men have horrid memories anyway," she concluded, waving her hand flippantly.

"Who're we talking about, loves?" Christina asked, walking in with a skirt. She hung it up on a rack, then looked at them expectantly.

"Daniel," Betty muttered, laying back down.

"He's forgotten something at Tuesday's house, or so he thinks," Katalina elaborated, returning to sprucing up the blazer.

"Ach, not again!" Christina cried, shaking her head.

"Promiscuous boy, you already know that I'm all yours, what you waiting for? Roses are red, some diamonds are blue. Chivalry is dead, but you're still kind of cute," Katalina sang lightly, mixing up parts of the chorus and verses.

Betty groaned. "Not helping, Kat," she snapped, sitting up again. Her temper was flaring and threatened to send her over the edge. And of course Daniel was the cause of all of it. "Ugh, I mean, would it really kill him to be a little more..."

"Decent?" Christina offered.

"Honorable?" Katalina tried.

"Disciplined?"

"Committed?"

"Chivalrous?"

Katalina gave a nod of approval.

"Well, yes, all of those, but I was leaning towards responsible," Betty said.

"Tha'll be the day," Christina laughed.

"I'm serious!" Betty insisted.

"We know," Katalina intervened. "But...There's a balance in this world. Where there is light, there must also be darkness. Where there is goodness, there must also be evil. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera," she said, mimicking the king from _Anna and the King_. "You and Daniel balance each other out. You're responsible, he isn't. You're organized, he isn't. You've got values, he doesn't." She shrugged. "It's that simple."

"But not reassuring in the least," Betty pointed out, making a face. "And I still think you could have made it as a psychologist," she added.

Katalina shrugged again. "But then I wouldn't be here, with you two, doing what I love."

"Talking to us?" Christina ventured sarcastically with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, well, that too. I meant being a fashionista and doling out great advice," she explained.

"And for that I am very thankful," Betty replied with a smile.

"Here, here!" Christina chimed in. "Now who's up for a couple rounds of drinks?"

* * *

A/N: Feel free to hurl large objects in my direction for not updating in forever. And thanks to all my reviewers. 


	6. Chapter 6

"Why do I get the feeling that tomorrow isn't going to be a pleasant day?" Katalina asked Christina as she watched Betty exit the bar, cell phone pressed tightly against her ear. One could only assume that it was Daniel, which meant trouble was following close behind.

The Scot gave a shrug, much more interested in her drink and an older guy that Katalina didn't find attractive in the least bit.

"Have another drink my dark eyed beauty, I've got one more night left here in town. Have another drink of green elixir and we'll have ourselves a little mixer and follow me down," Katalina sang the next day at work. It was a difficult feat, seeing as she had several pins held in between her lips. She was crouched down by the bottom of a dress, removing the pins now that it was hemmed.

"I' seems you hit the nail right on the head, Kat," Chrisitina remarked from where she was standing on a stool, performing the same task around the neckline. Her assistant gave her a questioning look, pins bobbing up and down as she continued her song, humming. The older woman gestured toward the door of the Closet with her shoulder.

In stormed one rather upset Betty. "I can't believe him! How can he be so selfish?" she cried, clearly outraged.

Katalina removed the pins from her mouth and rocked back onto her heels. "Assuming that you're talking about Daniel, I'd have to say the most obvious reason is because he's a-"

"Youngest child type," Christina chimed in to avoid further upsetting Betty. She gave Katalina a look, then continued with her work.

"What'd he do now, anyway?" Katalina asked, sitting down next to the bespectacled assistant. She grabbed a banana off of their work table and proceeded to peel it.

Betty sighed, trying to ease out of her frustrated state. "It turns out that Tuesday was the model that we were going to use for this Red and Black shoot, and that Daniel left a pair of his briefs at her flat. Her boyfriend is the male model that we were going to use, and he got mad when he found out."

"Time out," Katalina said, the banana halfway to her mouth. "You keep saying 'were going to use,' like we're not going to use them any…more…Oh crap."

"Tell me about it," Betty groaned. "So now I have to straighten this mess out or Wilhelmina will use Daniel's mistake against him." She clasped her hands together in her lap.

Katalina frowned. "That's not right. It should be his responsibility. He's editor-in-chief and he's got to start cleaning up his own messes. Especially when they're brought on by his thinking with his…" She waved her banana around for emphasis. "You know…"

Betty cracked a smile, despite her mood. She wasn't sure what she would do without Katalina. But more importantly, she wasn't sure what she was going to do without a model at the moment. She heaved another sigh before getting up. She needed to work quickly if she was going to be able to help Daniel. "Well, I'll see you two later," she said with a wave.

Christina smiled sympathetically after her. "Poor lass," she murmured. She stepped off of her stool and gazed at the dress hanging on the dummy. It was one of the reds. A floor length gown, the back of it dipped down daringly low and ended just at the hip line, met by a sizable bow. She remembered how Katalina had complained that her ass would fall out as she was fitted.

"What?" Katalina asked, feeling her boss's eyes on her. "It's rude to stare," she chided before taking a bite of the banana.

"You are an _ab_solute genius!" Christina cried before grabbing her assistant by the wrist and dragging her towards the elevator. She ignored the younger woman's protests ("Ow! This hurts! I just want to finish my banana!") and didn't bother to explain herself ("Wait, what the hell is going on? Christina!").

As the pair passed the receptionist's desk on Mode's floor, several insults were flung between Amanda and Katalina. Marc, who had been conversing with Amanda, observed, "Aw, you two must really like each other." This earned him a slap on the wrist.

"Christina! Katalina! What are you two doing up here?" asked a rather bewildered Betty. In her arms was what appeared to be an overly large address/telephone book of sorts.

Christina shoved her assistant towards Betty. "Use Katalina," she said breathlessly, and rather vaguely.

The two looked at each other, then at the older woman. "Have you been drinking today?" Katalina ventured to ask.

"No, no, no."

"Do you need me to take Katalina off your hands for a bit?" Betty guessed.

Christina shook her head, still catching her breath.

"This doesn't have to do with anything sexual, does it?" Katalina asked bluntly. Betty sent her an alarmed look. The other girl shrugged. "Hey, as long as we're just standing here throwing random things out…" she trailed off.

"In the shoot," Christina elaborated.

"Use Katalina in the shoot? What are you ta-"

"Do you not recall me saying that I am the least photogenic person on the planet?" Katalina interrupted. She crossed her arms over her chest in a stubborn manner.

"Oh," Betty said, a little slow on the uptake. "Do you really think that could work?" she asked Christina, ignoring Katalina's comment.

"I don' see why not. I mean she's already been fitted for all of the dresses," Christina explained. "All I'd 'ave to do is shorten them a wee bit."

"That still leaves us short one male model," Betty mused, her brow furrowing as she concentrated.

"As long as we're using employees, why not use Daniel? It's his fault we're in this mess to begin with," Katalina suggested, the sarcasm in her voice biting. "Hey wait, I was kidding!" she objected when Betty and Christina looked at each other and nodded.

Betty grinned. "He'll do it. He has to if he doesn't want another disaster on his hands."

"A human being's made of more than air. With all that bulk, you're bound to see him there. Unless that human bein' next to you, is unimpressive, undistinguished you know who...Cellophane should've been my name, 'cause you can look right through me, walk right by me, and never know I'm there," Katalina sang, throwing her hands up in the air.

* * *

A/N: Chapter 1 was edited slightly. I made Katalina 24 instead of 22. It works better in my head. Anyway, reviewers are loved and make me write faster. 


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